SnK:Origins - Petra
by Aethys
Summary: Every hero has a past, and every story has a beginning. This is how I imagine the start of Petra Ral's career under the banner of the Scouting Legion.


It was a warm, sunny day; her first official day with the Scouting Legion. For now, she was assigned to help at the stables. Some of the other rookies grumbled in displeasure over the 'menial' tasks they were given, but Petra didn't mind at all. She wore a gentle smile and a relaxed expression as she kept scrubbing the horses.

From now on, she was entitled to wear the emblem of the Wings of Freedom, and soon she would be allowed to participate in the battle for humanity's future. She remembered how shocked her father was when she finally told him that she would join the Scouting Legion instead of the Military Police. As part of the best ten recruits of her year, she would've been accepted into any branch of the military without any hesitation.  
At certain times, she was tempted by the prospect of easy life; safe work, comfortable lodging, good salary and the general respect of the public. It would've been nice, but empty. Petra Ral was a person with strong feelings and strong ideals, and she fiercely wanted to believe in a brighter future for all humanity. Her path was already laid out at her feet...

She carefully led the horse back to the stall and headed outside with another one. She started scrubbing again, and soon she noticed a shadow being cast over her small form.  
„Tch... What's a shrimp like you doing here?"  
Petra jumped around in surprise, fearing that she might have been reprimanded for doing something wrong. Maybe it was an officer? Was she in trouble?  
The man before her had sharp features, curly blond hair and a smug expression on his face. Still, he seemed like just another recruit.  
„Excuse me?", she asked in a suspicious tone, her gaze sharpening.  
„You heard me. Someone this small... What the hell were the higher-ups thinking? Can you even carry your own gear?"  
His tone was condescending. He even leaned forward, emphasizing the difference in their height.

„Auruo, stop picking on the new guys."  
Before Petra could answer, another man joined the conversation. He was taller than the other, and his long blond hair was tied into a ponytail.  
„Just look at her...", the first man scoffed.  
„I'm looking. She's very pretty." His expression was friendly, even apologetic. „My name is Erd Gin, and I'm also with the Scouting Legion."  
He held his hand out for a handshake, and Petra accepted.  
„I'm Petra. Petra Ral. Nice to meet you."  
They smiled at each other for a few seconds, until they heard a displeased snort.  
„This guy is Auruo Bossard. Don't mind him, he's always grumpy about something."  
„I see.", she chuckled.  
For a moment, Erd could've sworn that he caught Auruo blushing.

* * *

„Honestly... What are you? A five-year-old?", Erd sighed.  
„Shut up!"  
„Were you going to start pulling her hair too? You know, if you like her, you could just say so..."  
„I told you to shut up!", Auruo snapped in embarrassment. There was a few seconds of heavy silence before he spoke again. „She's so small... She looks like she could break so easily..."

* * *

The next few weeks were spent with preparations for the upcoming expedition outside the wall. The new recruits had to go through a series of classroom lectures about strategy, tactics and maneuvers, and whatever could be managed inside the wall was incorporated into long hours of field training. When the day finally arrived, all the rookies marched on with pride. For that short time from the base to the gate, surrounded by the stirring crowd, the cheers, the blessings and felicitations; they felt important. They felt brave.  
Then they left the city behind, and soon learned that their deepest fears were jolly fairytales compared to reality...

* * *

„Abigail! Snap out of it!", Petra screamed in despair. „Move!"  
The girl, however, did nothing as she stared upwards the gigantic monster in front of her.

Abigail had been slapped to the ground a moment before, with her gear falling apart from the impact. She had managed to push herself up into a sitting position, but as soon as she turned her gaze upwards, she cursed her own sight.  
Up there, in the grip of a titan was another one of their squad, a boy named Emil. He was struggling and screaming, clawing at the titan's skin with his fingers, but the creature didn't seem to care. It just opened its huge mouth into a grotesque smile, leaning in closer and closer. They boy stopped moving around and turned his head towards Petra; tears poured from his eyes like rivers.  
„Help me..." His voice was weak and crackled.

Petra just stood there on a branch, frozen in place by fear, her legs and arms trembling like leaves. She had her swords pulled out, but still, she hesitated. These monsters were more than scary… more than frightening… they were terrifying. No training could've prepared them for this…

"Save me! Someone! Anyone!"  
The boy screeched like a banshee, and his voice finally reached her. Petra gritted her teeth and with a scream of her own, she jumped from the tree, maneuvering towards the dreadful creature.  
She was getting close. Her vision narrowed down to the only spot she needed to care about. She pulled up her arms, ready to strike.  
"Petra! Dodge!"  
Abigail's shout distracted her for a second. What could've happened? What did she have to dodge?  
Her eyes grew wild as a shadow entered her field of vision. A huge arm was closing in on her rapidly. Suddenly, her instincts kicked in. Without thinking, she altered her route as much as she could. The rough change managed to get her just out of reach for the incoming titan, but it also sent her off of her original course.  
Right now, she had to avoid crashing into a tree in mere seconds. She pushed her feet forward and her ankles gave a cracking sound as her legs smashed against the trunk.

She did it… She survived it… an unexpected rush of euphoria hit her as she realized how close she was to death. She felt the sudden need to laugh. She turned her head, wanting to see the amazed expressions of her squadmates, but she only found terror.  
Abigail was kneeling in the grass, her mouth fell open, but no sound came from her. Tears ran down her cheeks as she stared upwards with a blank expression. Petra turned her gaze into that direction too, and her face grew distorted with horror as she saw Emil's upper body disappear into the titan's mouth, leaving only a bloody chunk of his torso and legs behind.

Again, she was rooted in place by shock and fear. How could this be possible? How could one of them be killed so easily? She stared at the titan's pleased expression… What made them really gruesome wasn't their huge body or their human-like appearance... It was their face, their expression; like they were just children playing around, without a care for the world.  
What could she do against them? Did she have any chance at all? Would she die like Emil did? Would it hurt? Her father would be so sad… He told her that it was dangerous, and she didn't listen. She just had to go and join the Scouting Legion...  
Her eyes snapped open. Yes, she had to join them, because she believed that humanity had a chance for a future without fear… She wore the Wings of Freedom… That's what she needed to fight for. Ignoring the pain in her legs, she jumped forward, hooking herself to the titan that was preparing to swallow the other half of Emil. She screamed as she put all of her muscle power into the attack. The creature's skin split open, and her blades sliced out a huge chunk of meat from the neck.  
The huge body faltered, then fell towards the ground as it already started evaporating.

Petra landed near Abigail. Her legs couldn't hold her weight anymore and she fell to the ground. The other titan was right in front of them, and her friend was still paralyzed by fear. She had to keep going… She tried to stand, but the pain in her ankles didn't allow her to rise to her feet. She lifted her eyes to stare into the face of death.  
As the monster reached towards them, she could've sworn that she heard the sound of recoiling wire. A second later a shadow darted through the trees and the huge arm stopped mid-air. Steam rose from its neck as the huge body hit the ground.

"Are you all right?"  
A short figure walked up to the girls. For a moment, Petra couldn't decide if she should consider him a 'man' or a 'boy'. His face seemed unfazed, and even when he turned his head to look at Emil's remains, his expression remained unreadable.  
"Was this your first time fighting a titan?"  
His voice didn't seem either comforting or accusing; he simply asked a question.  
"Yes. I… I shouldn't have panicked. I'm terribly sorry."  
Petra kept staring at the ground as her tears fell in silence.  
"You shouldn't be. Being scared is normal when you first meet them."  
"But Emil…"  
"Not your fault. If you want to honor his death, keep fighting."  
She finally looked up. Her eyes were still filled with sadness, but now they also shone with newfound determination.

"Levi!"  
Someone shouted from nearby, and the man before Petra answered. So that was his name.  
"Let's get the two of you back on your horses. We should regroup before we lose any more people."

* * *

"Really? You killed a titan on your very first mission? You really are something, Petra."  
Erd seemed honestly surprised, but at the same time, he seemed genuinely proud of her.  
"You shouldn't say that… I was really scared. It was horrible… If I was stronger… If I was braver, Emil would still be alive."  
She wasn't crying now, but her expression seemed sorrowful and distant.  
"See? I told you a shrimp like her wasn't cut out for this work."  
Auruo scoffed and forced a smug expression on his face, but couldn't hide the feelings of sympathy and sadness in his eyes.  
"Don't listen to him. He was practically a crybaby during his first expedition."  
"That's a lie! Stop spouting nonsense you bastard!"  
The two men started arguing like children, and their blissful ignorance caused a gentle smile to appear on Petra's face as she wiped a tear from her eye.


End file.
